I am new to iThings after steadfastly believing that I just wasn't interested. BB for years, then Droid Pro (real keyboard), then hated Android so much that I bought a Windows phone. Never considered iPhone either one of those times. I have unexpectedly become a huge fan of Apple and iThings: they WORK (have never had an iThing crash - with two iPhones and an iPad); they are pretty gorgeous in their way; and Apple customer service is unparalleled.
Had I not already abandoned Android, I would have done so the minute Google announced that they were aggregating user data across all their platforms. Apps are one thing, for sure - and yes, you can set permissions to OFF or skip altogether. The HUGE deal for me is that Android itself IS Google - hence the apps are minor compared to all the data on the entire phone! There's no way to know what they use or how -- and I have nothing that anyone cares one bit about -- its the principle: Google OWNS that OS and have given notice, so they can do anything they want with anything you have on an Android phone, anytime they want to. THAT is the deal breaker for me. If I had had an Android phone at that time, I would have been knocking down carrier door to get out of contract -- choosing Android should not mean selling your soul. I know, Apple takes data too -- but the google linking-all-google-ish-things part just spooked me.